Sungai Melaka an indicator of cleanliness of Melaka city - Ab Rauf

MELAKA - The amount of garbage collected in Sungai Melaka will be used as a benchmark or indicator of the level of cleanliness of the city of Melaka and the civic awareness of its residents in preparation for the Visit Melaka Year 2024 (TMM2024).

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh said the indicator will also be used as a guideline in devising follow-up actions to improve the level of cleanliness of the river and its surroundings, which are tourist attractions.

"We are holding this Gotong Rotong Perdana programme to prepare for TMM2024, which will be officially launched on Dec 31. From this programme, we will assess the level of cleanliness of Sungai Melaka through the amount of garbage collected.

"If there is a large amount of garbage collection, then the civic awareness of the people of Melaka and visitors still needs to be improved,” he told the media after officiating the Sungai Melaka Gotong Rotong Perdana Programme Phase II at Pengkalan Rama Square here today.

The gotong royong programme along 5.2 kilometres (km) of the river, with the participation of over 1,200 participants, was from Taman Rempah to the Batu Hampar Water Control Gate and was divided into eight zones, led by strategic partners like the Melaka Historic City Council, Syarikat Air Melaka Berhad, SWCorp and the Public Works Department.

Ab Rauf said the cleanliness of Melaka was crucial towards achieving the target of 18.7 million tourists during TMM2024, adding that he also wants Sungai Melaka to become one of the state's tourism products comparable to those in other countries, such as Venice in Italy.

"Melaka was once recognised as the cleanest state and city and we will try to get that award again, hopefully, this year. So, various efforts will be carried out, including this kind of gotong rotong event, and they will be expanded to other regions and tourist locations in stages," he said. - BERNAMA